Tabloids
by HuntingStarlight
Summary: Annabeth Chase is an ordinary girl. Until she heads to Oxford on a student exchange. When she meets her roommate, the rude and distant Percy Jackson, Annabeth couldn't possibly loathe anybody more. But when Percy is faced with certain death, Annabeth might just learn that her old life was like a tabloid-a truth among the infinite lies. Done for the PJO-HOO BigBang.
1. Chapter 1

**Tabloids**

**Summary:** Annabeth Chase is an ordinary girl, with an extraordinary brain. Every aspect of her life is ordinary, until she heads to Oxford on a student exchange program. When she meets her roommate, the cold, aloof Percy Jackson, Annabeth couldn't possibly loathe anybody more. But when her roommate is faced with certain death, everything Annabeth has ever known is on the line. And she might just learn that her life was nothing more than a tabloid all along-one truth, among the infinite lies. Done for the PJO-HOO BigBang.

* * *

**Annabeth**

Annabeth Chase, age 20, shut the novel that was currently taking residence upon her lap. As much as she loved the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it often got tiring, reading and rereading the same words over and over again.

'Instead,' She thought, 'I'll just boot up my laptop here,' The blonde college student turned on her sleek, silver laptop, and tapped her fingers impatiently on the coffee table in front of her as the screen loaded.

Annabeth Chase was nothing short of a genius. She went to Stanford University at California, majoring in Engineering, (More specifically, architecture,) and minoring in English. But, she growled, irritated at the computer as she sat inside the toasty café, rain pouring in sheets outside the glass window display.

As of that time, she was no longer in California-or even the United States for a fact. As a matter of fact, she was in London, England, waiting for her best friend, Thalia Grace to make her appearance from wherever she had run off to.

As to why present girl was in London, it had started as just an innocent notion, a foreign exchange program, with Oxford University. Of course, Annabeth had jumped at the chance. After all, what did she have to lose by going? She would get to see Thalia, who was currently with Artemis at the ecology center in London, and, she would be able to get new insights on engineering and such. Seeing the architecture of England was a plus too.

"Hey! Annie! Sorry I'm late; I bumped into Perce on my way here." Thalia trotted in, her short-cropped black hair soaked with rain water. The blonde girl looked up, and smiled.

"No problem Thals. It's OK, OK?" Scrolling through her email inbox, Annabeth deleted a few emails, and then shut the chrome lid. "So, how's saving the biodiversity going?" Thalia rolled her eyes, crossing her legs.

"The environment, Annie. The environment." Sighing, Annabeth leaned back into the chair.

"Sorry jet-lag." Thalia groaned.

"Oh, yeah totally understand. It really, kills, doesn't it?" Annabeth covered her mouth, stifling giggles at the expression on the punk's face. Thalia got up from her chair, grabbing her coat from its perch hanging on the back of said chair. "Sorry, Annabeth, I've got to run. Artemis is calling, and hey, don't you have to get over to the University to get your dorm assignments soon?" Checking the plastic watch on her left wrist, Annabeth balked as she read the time.

"Gods, you're right. I'd better get moving, or I won't make it. See you later!" Thalia grabbed her arm.

"How about I text you, and we can meet up at Starbucks or something to catch up, OK?" Annabeth grinned.

"Sounds good me, I'll see you then!" Packing her laptop back into its bag, she grabbed her two suitcases, and ran out of the door, her blonde ponytail swinging behind her.

Yeah, screw the rain. It never really bothered her anyways.

* * *

When Annabeth first set foot inside of her new dorm for the year, she never really expected to be rooming with a guy. Yeah, apparently they were short on rooming arrangements, but she hadn't actually been prepared for this.

One side of the room was covered in music paper, leaflets, packets, and binders, and among the cluttered, yet somehow organized mess, was a guitar. (Annabeth could only guess that it was acoustic-she hadn't seen an amp.) Both beds were made, and a pair of sneakers was sitting behind the door. Setting her bags down, Annabeth made a beeline for the bathroom, only to find it locked.

And, man she really needed to pee.

Banging on the door with little force, Annabeth said, "Excuse me, I was wondering if you could open up the door. I, um, really, really need to…ahem…use the facilities." The door opened, and a puff of steam came out, along with a black haired boy in a black concert t shirt, grey sweatpants, and a white towel slung over his shoulder.

"It's open if you need to use it." He brushed past her without as much as a word, into his side of the room.

'Well, OK, he's probably just tired, I mean, he did just get out of a day of classes, so I'll approach him in the morning.'

Thus, ended her first day in London.

* * *

By the time Annabeth woke up, her roommate was already sitting on the couch beside the floor to ceiling window. A pen was stuck in his mouth, and pair of black (or were they dark blue?), glasses was perched on the bridge of his nose. He was scrawling on a page of typed nabeth had found the day before. "Hi. I'm your roommate, Annabeth. I'm from Stanford University in California. What's your name?"

Silence.

"Hello?" Annabeth leaned over the coffee table, which his feet were propped up on, her hands on her hips. "I'm talking to you!" His eyes snapped up to her, and Annabeth felt a lump form in her throat. They were a captivating sea green, but they held no emotion whatsoever.

"Perseus Jackson." His curt voice cut through the thick silence. She looked at him, confusion in her stormy grey orbs.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" He looked back at her, pushing the glasses up his forehead, and into his hair, setting down his pen and paper.

"Are you deaf? I said my name was Perseus Jackson." Annabeth huffed. He was rude!

"Well, Perseus, what are you majoring in?" His response was short, like the few ones that she had heard before.

"Law. And, call me Percy." She realized that he spoke with a small British accent, but, at the time, it really didn't matter. He was being rude, and Annabeth didn't want to put up with this crap he was giving her this early in the morning. Gathering up her bag, and double-checking to see if she had packed her binder, pencil case and cell phone, Annabeth snatched her keys from the small table next to the couch, and shoved her shoes on. Opening the apartment door, Annabeth called,

"I'm going out to the student café. Also, clean this place up. It's a pigsty." With a toss of her head, Annabeth slammed the door shut, leaving an exasperated roommate behind.

* * *

_**Hi guys, it's Ren. **_

_**This story is the reason why I haven't been updating lately-my submission for the PJO-HOO Big Bang. **_

_**I'll be posting a chapter a week, so look out for them. **_

_**R&R? **_

_**Sayonara, minna,**_

_**Ren**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Tabloids**

**Summary:** Annabeth Chase is an ordinary girl, with an extraordinary brain. Every aspect of her life is ordinary, until she heads to Oxford on a student exchange program. When she meets her roommate, the cold, aloof Percy Jackson, Annabeth couldn't possibly loathe anybody more. But when her roommate is faced with certain death, everything Annabeth has ever known is on the line. And she might just learn that her life was nothing more than a tabloid all along-one truth, among the infinite lies. **Done for the PJO-HOO BigBang.**

* * *

**Annabeth**

When Annabeth reached the student café, it was sunny-the rain had finally lifted, and it seemed to put everybody in a good mood. _'Well, except for Mister Doom_ _'n' Gloom, I doubt even sunshine this bright and cheery could bring him out his funk.'_

Not looking where she was going, Annabeth bumped into a very, very tall person. _(Well, she was only 5'6". The person seemed about 6'2".)_ Looking up, she jumped back, almost screaming, but settling for glaring at him. She would not give him the satisfaction of making her scream.

But still. How had he gotten here before she did? Annabeth had clearly remembered leaving before him, and there was also that fact that he was still in pajamas, and now his hair was wet, and he had a fresh pair of jeans on, along with a green polo.

How did he manage to shower, get dressed, and get down here before her? And there was no way that anybody took a shower that friggin fast. Not even her father, who was _the king of fast showers_, could accomplish what her roommate just did.

"Excuse me, Miss. Chase, but could you kindly step aside? I am about to be late for a very important meeting." He spoke with the same monotone that he had addressed her with inside of the apartment, and it was the same-cold and unfeeling. Sticking her nose in the air, Annabeth stared him in the eyes-oh man, his eyes were like slabs of frozen sea-defiant and challenging. Releasing what seemed like a sigh, Percy pinched the bridge of his nose-which was void of all glasses. _(Were they reading glasses?)_

"Could you please move?" He spoke with a harshness that shocked Annabeth. She hadn't expected him to react so harshly to her reaction. Was his appointment really that important?

"C'mon Percy, let the poor girl be." A Cherokee-skinned girl with choppy, chocolate brown locks strode up to the duo, an annoyed expression gracing her features. Turning to her, the girl smiled, "Why don't you just come and sit with me, OK? Sorry about Percy, he's on edge."

Snorting, Annabeth muttered, "When is he not on edge?"

The girl laughed. "I like you! My name's Piper," She shot Percy a look that Annabeth couldn't exactly place, whether it was pity, or maybe something like anger. She steered Annabeth to a table in the back of the café, and Annabeth stared after the green-eyed boy as he left the coffee house, his strides quick and sharp.

* * *

**Percy**

Percy was beyond annoyed. He was currently late for his weekly meeting with Dr. Brunner, and he was in no mood to be more than ten minutes late. Checking the watch on his wrist, Percy saw that he had exactly six minutes left. If he kept on walking at the pace he was going at, he would never make it within ten minutes.

Well, whatever.

Taking in deep breaths, Percy focused on the air around him, and felt it ripple and distort around him. Within the blink of an eye, he was next to Dr. Brunner's office. Striding up to the glass doors, Percy pulled the door open, and walked into the office, leaving a trace of magic in the air, and a slither of darkness in his step.

Inside of Dr. Brunner's office, the doctor wrapped a rubber strap around his forearm, and began pumping air into the strap. "How have you been feeling lately? Any lightheadedness, dizzy spells, or fainting?" The boy in front of him shook his head, but the pain in his eyes showed through slightly, proving that yes, there was a crack in the mask that he put on.

"No Dr. Brunner."

The doctor eyed the boy sadly, then asked, "Tell me the truth Perseus, and this will be easier for the both of us alright? I'm not about to sugarcoat anything, and I know that you aren't telling me the complete truth. So, work with me here, yes?" Percy eyed the coffee scented man with certain mistrust and wariness, his eyes dull and lifeless.

"My head is pounding, and I can't feel my legs very well-it's all pins and needles. I feel like I'm about to throw up whatever breakfast I managed to choke down this morning, and my powers aren't acting so well today-creating a portal drained me more than it should've." He glared at the serene man. "There, are you happy now?" Dr. Chiron Brunner smiled at his college age patient.

"Yes. Now, I'm going to take your blood. And while I do that, why don't you tell me about that new roommate of yours? You know who I'm talking about-the one from America."

"She's OK, I guess. I actually have no idea how I'm supposed to hide my demonic nature from her-she's kind of nosey. Also, she's got an odd name. Annabeth Chase, she said it was. I don't like her." A chuckle came from the doctor, as he withdrew the syringe, which was filled with black, blue, and red blood. Turning around, Percy eyed the syringe, a panicked expression shadowing his face.

"How much longer do you think I have? If they can't find what's causing it?" His voice was soft, with notes of panic etched into the smooth baritone.

"You can last through college Percy, and I can say this much-only use your magic when completely necessary. If my hunch is correct, the more you use it, the faster the black blood will progress. Please, please, Percy, just stay careful. I promised your mother that I would keep you safe, and I intend to keep it." At this, Percy's face was stone again, unreadable, and seemingly impenetrable.

"I see. Good day Dr. Brunner." And for a second, Percy felt himself shift, but he pushed past it and strode out of the office, emotions brewing in his chest.

* * *

Percy walked back to the apartment, a lump forming in his throat. If Chiron had avoided the question, it had to mean that he didn't have that much time left.

Black blood was a dangerous substance, and when it appeared in a demon, it meant that your time with a human heart was waning. It meant,_ oh, you know, you're going to become an insane, bloodthirsty killing machine._ And Percy **_really_** wasn't looking forward to that. Taking the silver keys from his jeans pocket, Percy opened the wooden door to his apartment. _(Reminding himself, that no, it wasn't just his apartment anymore-he was sharing it with the American_ _exchange student, and that also meant that he couldn't teleport in if he forgot his keys inside.)_ The minute he stepped inside, Percy blanched.

_**Dear mother of god, it was neat.**_

All of his papers were stacked into piles, all of the pamphlets from the lectures and classes he had attended while at Oxford. His guitar was in a whole new corner of the space, and in the middle of it all, sitting on the sofa, looking very, very proud was Annabeth Chase, along with Piper McLean.

**Oh NO. She did not...**

She had.

Growling underneath his breath, Percy cleared his throat, leaning on the arm of the couch, thoroughly startling both girls. "Tell me," he growled, his voice dangerously soft, "What-or who-said that you could move any of my stuff?" She glared at him her eyes defiant-she seemed to be doing that a lot.

"I did. We're sharing this room._** S-h-a-r-i-n-g.**_ You hear me? **_SHARING._** So, I think that I am at least entitled to clean up the complete tornado of a room that you own." Throwing his hands up into the air, he all but shouted,

"I'm not going to be able to find anything! Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, I was going through my papers in order to tidy everything up? That I was in the middle of an organizing period? And you-" He pointed a finger at her; "You'd better hope that I am able to find everything that I need. And, under no circumstances,_** YOU HEAR ME? NO CIRCUMSTANCES!**_ Are you to touch my guitar! **_OR MY NOTES_**!" Flopping onto the couch, he shot the blonde girl a withering glare, which he was very, very pleased to see, caused her to flinch. Even if she only flinched a little, it was well worth it.

She walked off, and scooped up the pile of his documents, and deposited them onto the coffee table, and huffed, "For your information, Mister Jackson, I only stacked all your notes and music stuff and whatnot. I think I'd at least know better than to misplace anybody's law notes. So there." Flipping him the bird, Annabeth walked away. Percy caught Piper laughing at him, but just chose to roll his eyes, and walk towards his guitar.

Yeah, re-organizing his notes could wait for later. He didn't have any classes later today anyways.

* * *

_**Hey guys, Ren again. **_

_**Updating a little early because I have no idea when I'll be on next time-I just started school. **_

_**The drama builds! (And I actually introduce the plot. LOL) **_

_**Until next time!**_

_**Sayonara, minna**_

_**Ren**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Tabloids**

**Summary:** Annabeth Chase is an ordinary girl, with an extraordinary brain. Every aspect of her life is ordinary, until she heads to Oxford on a student exchange program. When she meets her roommate, the cold, aloof Percy Jackson, Annabeth couldn't possibly loathe anybody more. But when her roommate is faced with certain death, everything Annabeth has ever known is on the line. And she might just learn that her life was nothing more than a tabloid all along-one truth, among the infinite lies. Done for the **PJO-HOO BigBang.**

* * *

**Annabeth**

When Annabeth got back from Piper's dorm, (man, Piper was lucky, she got to room with a girl, and her roommate wasn't a total ass.) she heard strained chords of a guitar coming from the portion of the apartment where the beds were.

OK, so the guy could actually play the guitar, and it wasn't just for show.

Entering the room as quietly as possible, Annabeth tried to sneak up on her _"roommate"_ but his monotone rung out,

"Stop sneaking around like you're an idiot. This is as much as your home, as it is mine, now that you are my roommate."

Cursing underneath her breath, Annabeth stepped into his line of vision, and asked, "How the hell did you know I was there? Not even my own father can tell that I'm there when I sneak around." The green-eyed menace, _(as Piper had dubbed him-she really couldn't be more correct,)_ put down the guitar, and replied,

"You breathe too loudly." She looked at him in disbelief.

**_What the hell_**, he could hear her breathing?

"Y-you're _**f**king**_ insane. Who the hell can hear another person breathing?" He gave a dry laugh, and Annabeth shivered.

"Miss Chase, I am about to regretfully inform you, that you are in for one hell of a year." She looked at him, fear clouding her vision, as she saw flicker of something-something-otherworldly flash in his eyes, and Annabeth swore that for a moment, her roommate wasn't human, but something else-something that, given the chance, would kill her.

But, of course, that couldn't be right.

_He had to be human...he just had to be._

* * *

Annabeth stepped out of the shower, her hair thrown up into its usual ponytail, and she watched with a slight distaste as her roommate walked into the steamy bathroom, his towel and a fresh pair of clothing thrown over his shoulder.

**_Damn he_**…thanks to his freaky words last night, Annabeth had been plagued by visions again.

Weren't they supposed to be gone? _**DAMN HIM!**_ It was his entire fault, with those sea-green eyes that sparkled with the fires of hell.

The visions of demons and the pits of hell surfaced within her again, the memories of her childhood bubbling up in her mind. They had almost disappeared entirely but…

_Then he came._

"Stupid Percy Jackson, with his stupid threats, and the goddamn flames of f**king hell." A deep rumbling laughter came from behind Annabeth, but it wasn't filled with amusement, but it was dry, and emotionless, just like he always was.

"Well, color me surprised. Annabeth Chase has a mouth on her. And I never would've guessed!" He was clutching his arm, and Annabeth saw something-she saw his blood, dripping from the gash-most likely from the crash she had heard earlier, the crash that sounded like tinkling glass. And his blood…it was a horrific mixture of red, blue, and black, oozing down his arm, and pooling on the once-clean floors.

"Y-your blood, I can't, it's-it's…" She gestured to the floor, stammering at the sight of the multicolored blood, which was splashing and sloshing around Percy's feet. He choked out a harsh laugh, throaty, bordering on hysteria.

"You could never understand...you-you're mortal. Hah, a mortal could never understand._ Argh_, why am I even bothering to tell you this? My words are useless on you...so just forget this OK? Forget about it." He waved a hand over Annabeth's face, and the last thing she could remember was a crushing darkness in the corner of her mind.

He was right; she could never understand.

But, why did he call her a mortal?

_Wasn't he human?_

* * *

**Percy**

Percy clutched his bleeding arm as he set the sleeping girl down onto her white sheets, being careful as not to drip any blood onto her bedcovers. Setting her down, he ambled over to where the case of bandages that Dr. Brunner had sent over three weeks prior, and cracked the white case open. Unraveling pristine white bandages, Percy glared at the color, he disliked white, and its sheer pureness, reminding, and taunting, always teasing him over the fact that he was a demon. A despicable creature from the pits of darkness, and on top of that, his humanity was slipping from his grasp, sliding away, along with the pigment that colored his blood red-the very thing that kept him human, that kept him from killing all of his classmates, and friends that he held near and dear to himself. He made his way back to the bathroom, picking up the small shards of glass that had fallen when he had punched the mirror.

Tracing a random rune in midair, Percy focused on repairing the shattered mirror, and watched as the bits and pieces of cracked glass formed a perfect reflecting sheet once more, held tight within the confines of the simple frame. Pressing his palms to the cool surface of the sink countertop, Percy snarled at his reflection in the mirror, as the layers of humanity that he hid himself behind slipped away, slowly burning from the sea-scented flames of hell that encircled the student.

Sharp, white teeth, reminiscent of a shark's gleamed through his snarling lips, and darkly feathered wings curved behind his back, a magnificent sight, almost like a fallen angel. Thin, ebony horns curled from right above his ears, and continued behind his head, never meeting in the center. He was a sight to behold, but no, never to be seen by the eyes of a mortal.

Resisting the urge to punch the mirror again, Percy allowed the familiar tendrils of fire to surround him, as they suppressed his demonic features, and left behind only the human ones. Sighing, Percy tapped the tightly wound bandage around his left forearm, and shut the bathroom light.

And as he looked back into the murky darkness that was now the bathroom, Percy could've sworn that he saw his eyes, sea green with cat-like pupils, glowing behind him, following his every move as he left the darkness behind.

* * *

When Percy woke up, it was six in the morning, and his first class of the day was in more than four hours.

Well, so much for sleeping in for a change.

Annabeth was up, however, rubbing her eyes tiredly, and groaning about a headache. Percy let out a breath he didn't know that he was holding in, because it seemed that the memory incantation had worked, and she had no recollection of what had happened the night before.

"OK, talk. Why, pray tell, was your blood not just red, but blue and black as well?"

Or maybe it hadn't worked.

* * *

**Hey guys, back again! **

**Thank you so much to everybody who has favorited, followed, a reviewed this!  
You guys are the absolute best! **

**Hopefully I can update next week too. **

**Sayonara, minna,**

**Ren. **

**P.S. R&R?**


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